Trump launches sweeping border crackdown, mass deportation push

Margelis Tinoco, a migrant from Colombia, reacts after receiving news that her U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) One appointment was cancelled, on the inauguration day of Donald Trump's second presidential term, at the Paso del Norte International border bridge in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico January 20, 2025. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez

WASHINGTON/PIEDRAS NEGRAS, Mexico (Reuters) -President Donald Trump on Monday kicked off his sweeping immigration crackdown, tasking the U.S. military with aiding border security, issuing a broad ban on asylum and taking steps to restrict citizenship for children born on U.S. soil.

Declaring illegal immigration a national emergency, Trump ordered the Pentagon to provide support for border wall construction, detention space, and migrant transportation, and empowered the secretary of Defense to send troops to the border as needed.